[Anchor]
Labor and management for Gyeonggi Province buses reached a tentative agreement on wages and collective bargaining in the early hours of today (October 30). The general strike planned to begin early this morning has been called off, and all buses are operating normally for the morning commute.
For our first news story, here is reporter Park Jae-yeon.
[Reporter]
The Gyeonggi Province bus union and management reached an agreement at around 2:30 a.m. today after all-night negotiations at the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission.
This comes about 12 hours after the final mediation meeting began at 3 p.m. yesterday.
The bus union had threatened to go on strike starting with the first buses early this morning if negotiations collapsed, but thanks to the dramatic agreement, buses are running normally.
Both sides agreed to a 3.2% increase in hourly wages for both the quasi-public system routes operated with provincial support and the private system routes operated by private companies, with the retroactive wage increases to be paid by the end of February next year.
[Woo Jong-hyun / Professional Adjustment Commissioner, Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission: Wages for the quasi-public system will be raised by 3.2% compared to the current hourly wage. However, the wages of maintenance workers and union exemption workers will be increased by the same rate.]
The agreement also included measures to improve working conditions, such as a fixed two-day weekend system, influenza vaccinations, and a 3-day reward vacation system for annual accident-free driving.
However, the issue of resolving the wage gap with Seoul bus drivers, which was the biggest point of contention, was decided to be discussed at a later date.
The union had initially demanded the same wages as Seoul bus drivers, including up to a 30% increase, while management pushed back, citing worsening financial conditions.
The two sides struggled to narrow their differences, extending the mediation deadline—which was originally set for midnight—by three hours. A dramatic agreement was reached after the management promised to address the wage gap with Seoul buses, prompting the union to step back.
Following the agreement, Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae released a statement saying, "I thank both labor and management for making the resolute decision to reach an agreement without a strike to protect the daily lives and safe commutes of provincial residents."
(Video by: Lee Chan-soo, Video Editing by: Lee Sang-min)
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